Construction of stop-cocks



UNEF@ STATES, FFICE.

JAMES ROBERTSON, OF'NEW YORK, N. Y.

lCONSTRuorroiv or sTor-oocx's.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No. 1,583, dated May 8, 1840.

To all whom t may` concern :l

Be it knownv that I, JAMES ROBERTSON, of the city, county, and State of New York,

have invented. a new and useful Improvement in Stop-Cocks for Water and Gas Pipes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a .full and exact description.

This invention is called Itobertsons improved stop-cock.

The chief improvements consist in simplifying it, rendering it easy to open and shut without danger as in ordinary stop cocks of breaking, and facilitating the repairing of it when injured without taking up or breakw ing the pipes.v

To enable others to make and use my impro-vements I proceed to `describe its construction and operation, reference being had tothe annexed drawings which make part of this specicatio-n.

The box containing the works consists of three pieces, two sides and the top piece or cap. A representation o f the whole put together is shown at Figure l, Plate I. It is of cast iron and the pieces are connected by bolts wit-h nuts and screws the whole made air tight by lead run into the joints and packed.

In the drawings hereunto annexed the iigures are made to a scale of three inches toa foot of the ordinary size for a pipe of twelve inches diameter. v

The lower part of the two sides is much like the ordinary stop-cock in use except the valve and its apparatus at the bottom. The sides have flanges by which they are connected, and there is a flange around the top of them by which the top piece is fastened on. The shape of the lower part at its top, as seen before the top piece is put on, is shown in Fig. 2, which is a view of the lower part from the top. The hubs are constructed to admit the pipes inside, as will be seen by Fig. 4, Plate II.

On the pipe inside the sliding valve (A) rests against a smooth edge or face generally made of brass and polished, called the valve seat. rIhe face of the sliding valve has also a ring of brass (turned true and polished) on its face to lit to the face of the pipe. For the face of the sliding valve see Fig. 6. It (the valve) is made round, except for a projection on each side and an ear or piece f at top containing a slot. It is made of cast iron, except upon the face where there is a ring of brass. There are two projections '-'D-on a line with the projections at the side edges. An edge view is seenat Fig. Q another also at Fig. 2. Y

vThe .wedge B, Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, is made of wrought irony or cast irontheformer is preferable. It is connected to t-he valve by a small pin which enters into the slot.. is made of the shape'shown at Fig.` 8. The brass nut for the main screw E is secured in the toppart of this wedge by journals in the upper projections. Upon the lower part of the wedge upon each leg of itis a small knob or elevation g. The wedge may be .seen in the drawing at Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

The main screw, E, Fig. 4, Pl. II. This is made of brass or iron-the former is preferable, .asv in the situation in which it is placed it is liable to rust. It runs in the brass nut, C, and through the top'of the wedge B. It always retains the same position in the box at top and ismade with a shoulder just above the screw to retain it in position. The screw extends do-wn to a guide P Fig. 4 which is inserted in one of the sides-just above the inner face of the pipe.

This guide keeps the screw in its place and pleculiar shape. It Vis a double wedge, thatV is, it is divided so as to act on each side. The two wedges are connected so as to make but one piece. lThe nut Cris made to fit into the top of the piece B between two points or studs projecting upward and there lhinged, by journals or pivots on C. The knobs g o-n the back of the wedges serve to hold it against the valve above the projection I), as seen, Fig. 5.

The escape valve H, Fig. 4, at the bottom is for letting olf the dirt, &c., which may accumulate in the basin, formed by the hollow part immediately above it. To get I rid of the dirt the valve is raised by lmeans of the compound lever I and K, Fig. l. rlhe basin is merely a depression o-f the interior at the bottom, by which a cavity is formed, over which cavity the water flows in its passage through the pipe, depositing the sediments there.

'Ihe cap piece, R, Figs. l and 3, is made tapering toward the top, being at the bottom as broad as the main box, a form of which is seen -at Fig. 2. Upon the bottom of this cap is a flange all around to fit and jo-in with the ange seen at Fig. 2. This cap is one of the chief improvements in the Q t Y y 1,583

astop cock. In all that have heretofore been made there was no means of repairing them but by breaking one or two lengths of the pipe and melting out the lead,.&c., but by. this cap all diliiculty is remedied. The cap` is taken olf and the whole interiorreadily laid open without damaging any part.

When it is required to shut down the sliding valve A' to close the pipe, the valve 'in all the gures.

being in the position seen at Fig.` 5, theV screw E is turnedback'by means ofv thev crank G and the valve and wedge descend together, the'valve being forced down, when its ownweight will not carry it by the wedge the feet of which rest against the projections D and are prevented from .slipping 0H by the knobs g which rest against the inside of the box above the pipe and keep it in place. is thus pushed down, the knobs reach a notch m (shown in Fig. l) cut in each side ofthe inner edge Vof the pipe and slip off the'projections D, and sliding down a short space upon the top of it, wedge it firmly to the face of the pipe, that is, bring the brass ring, a, of the sliding `valve firm upon the ring, b, on the inner face ofthe pipe. Y

When the valve is to be raised to. admit the water through, thescrew is turned and the Wedge first drawn out, which is easilyV and the body; Fig. 2, a side view; Fig. 4,' a vertical section showing the edge ofthe But when the sliding valve sliding valve wedge, 8mo.; Fig. ,5, vertical section showing the back part of the disk or sliding valve A and the face of the pipe b;

Fig. 6, the face of the sliding valve and lits connection withithe Wedge; Fig. 7 the back of the samewith the wedge andthe brass nut O; Fig. 8, the wedge in perspective;

Fig. 9, edge ofV the sliding valve.

The same letters refer to the same things A the sliding valve, a the brass ring upon its face, B the wedge, b theface of the pipe inside,1Ci the nut in which plays the-main screw, D the projection onthe back of .the

4disk A, Ethe main screw, F thestufiing box and follower at top,` f the ear and Slat upon the disk A, G the crank, g` the knobs upon the wedge, H the escape valve, I the compound lever, `K the handle to it, 7c the hub, L the `boX forthe escape. valve, m a notch in the inside face of the` pipe opposite to the face b, Pthe guide for steadying the lowerA end of the screw E, R the `upper part of the whole called the cap or cap piece.

It is cast inionepiece and arranged to be taken off at pleasure to get at the interior works.-v S the chambers atthe bottom.

What I claim'as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isl. Making the'` valve A fit `more firmly in' its seat by means of the independent wedge constructed and'operatingf as above described. 1

v2. I claim .themode of cleansing the chamber S from any dirt that may accumulate init, by'means of the escape valve II arranged and operating as above set forth. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of VAugust 1839.

Y JAMES ROBERTSON.

lVitnesses: i

` ENOS VILDER, OWEN G. IVARREN. 

